The Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum), under the aegis of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), has launched a Call for Submissions to mark the the 10th anniversary of the endorsement of the Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries in the Context of Food Security and Poverty Eradication (SSF Guidelines).
The SSF Guidelines are the first international instrument dedicated entirely to the immensely important small-scale fisheries sector. More than 4000 voices from fishers, fish workers and others in over 120 countries have described how they would want to make livelihoods along the small-scale fisheries value chain sustainable for people and the planet. Their recommendations have been summarized into a concise set of principles, namely the SSF Guidelines.
The final text of the SSF Guidelines was negotiated by FAO Members and endorsed by the Committee on Fisheries (COFI) in 2014, confirming a strong commitment from both governments and civil society to bring about positive change in small-scale fisheries.
The principles in the SSF Guidelines address policies, strategies and legal frameworks concerning small-scale fisheries, but also other matters affecting lives and livelihoods in fishing communities.
The SSF Guidelines are global in scope, and they guide dialogue, policy processes and actions at national, regional and international level, contributing to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Submissions can be made in any of the three languages (English, French or Spanish). Please keep the length of submissions limited to 1,000 words. You can download and upload the completed form at https://assets.fsnforum.fao.org/public/resources/2023-10/EN_TEMPLATE_10%20YEARS%20SSF%20GUIDELINES_0.docx or, alternatively, send it to fsn-moderator@fao.org.
This call is an important stock-taking opportunity for all and the results are expected to further inform FAO, governments, SSF organizations, NGOs, development partners, CSOs, research and other partner initiatives to implement the SSF Guidelines at national, regional or global levels.
The Call for Submissions is open until 04 December 2023.
Background:
The Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum) is a community of experts, which currently has more than 4000 core members from five different continents to interact and exchange knowledge on food security and nutrition through online discussions. Awareness on good governance and the right to food are key elements for the project in the collaboration with the FSN Forum. This collaboration has resulted in an increased awareness of food security governance and right to food issues in the global discussions.
Food security governance and the right to food were paramount elements as the FSN Forum conducted online consultations on the development of studies on Land Tenure and Investment in Agriculture, Price Volatility and the global online consultation on the Global Strategic Framework (GSF) of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS).
The FSN Forum is an open, neutral platform for multistakeholder dialogue. It engages a wide range of individuals and institutions, fostering awareness, knowledge sharing, debate and mutual learning on a wide range of issues that affect food security and nutrition, and food systems.
Since 2007, the FSN Forum has been facilitating open dialogue, promoting inclusive policy processes and strengthening decisionmaking at global, regional and national levels.
For more information please visit www.fao.org/fsnforum or contact fsn-moderator@fao.org